Bourbon Barrel Doppelbock - Out Of The Woods Series | Hinterland Brewery Restaurant

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Reviews by nickfl:

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Once you finally break through the black wax seal, you meet a Doppelbock that can't quite standup to the overwhelming bourbon barrel notes. It's too thin too, and as a result creates a fairly one-dimensional bourbon laden beer that doesn't last long on the palate. We would have loved to seen a heartier Doppelbock, with its backbone intact, and a more subtle approach to the barrel aging. As it stands it just tastes like a watery shot of bourbon with some lingering malt.

A - Pours a clear brown with a small head that disappears quickly.
S - Aroma is mostly caramel.
T - Flavor is quite sweet up front with barrel making up the rest of the flavor profile.
M - Carbonation is low, mouth feel is thin.
O - Kinda of disappointed in this one. Not a bad beer, just nothing special to recommend. Likely better on tap.

The beer pours a brownish-red with limited head that did not lace. Wonderful aroma, full of candied plums and Bourbon Whiskey. Clean flavours. Sweet dark fruit, toffe, and Bourbon. Lovely, lovely Bourbon. Very harmonious. Vanilla, molasis, subtle char. A Bourbon beer that tastes like beer first, not the other way around. Overal a medium sweet sipper. Nothing over the top....not the best burbon barrel i've had, but a nice beer nontheless.

Poured from the bottle into a tulip. Appears a dark opaque brown with a thick, frothy tan head that never completely dissipates. The nose is all sweetness and bourbon. The taste is again all bourbon, oak and sweet, malt. The mouthfeel is sticky, as I expected from the first whiff. Overall, it's just too one dimensional, and not complex enough. An interesting concept, but doesn't blow me away.

An extremely loud "pop" as my lighter released the cap from the vessel, a sound that is seemingly meaningless on the grand scale of things, but it never fails to excite my senses a little more and makes me more anxious to enjoy a brew!! An aggressive pour yielded less than an inch worth of khaki colored head, formed of smaller bubbles that sat atop the brownish-ruby colored beer… Not crystal clear, as the beer has a slight haze to it, and an opacity to match, in that it allows a fair amount of light through it… On the nose is a decent amount of sweet maltiness, molasses, a nice helping of whiskey barrel, and a slight trace of tobacco… After my first taste, I was surprised at the delicacy with which it hit my palate!! The sweetness presented by the aroma is much more subdued that I had thought it would be, but the brown sugar is on the forefront of things, mingling with nuances of candied fruits… Midway through some slight coffee notes present themselves, with more hints of tobacco… Nothing overwhelming though, as the whiskey barrel shows up on the back end with a few more traces of dark fruits and caramel… The mouthfeel is pleasant, but just a little too light for me… It allows the sweetness to blend nicely with the bolder elements of the beer, but the finish is still nice and crisp… Overall this beer lacks a certain complexity I've come to expect, and typically enjoy, in barrel aged beers… Somewhat like a 50/50 aged wine, as it's not too oaky, but I feel this beer could have used more of the barrel's influence… Lastly, the hop presence could have been more prevalent, as there's hardly ANY traces of hop flavor in this beer… Another great brew - Cheers!!

Thanks to Severstad for surprising me with this one! Might be the best of the mixed six... and it's from Green Bay, no less.

Dark brown with glints of ruby in the light, that rich color alone makes this beer fairly sexy. Tobacco stained tan foam, half a glass at first, much more subdued on the second pour, patchy skim and a thin collar around the edges. About what you'd expect for a barrel aged lager.

Sweet whiskey aroma, more of the Jack Daniels/Jim Beam variety. Some woodiness and toasted malts surface too as it warms, as well as alcohol sharpness.

Flavors are as advertised, malty doppelbock base with plenty of bourbon heat and flavor, though a bit sharp and astringent. Base malts are there, lending bready flavors and some light fruity sweetness. Slight ashiness, astringent alcohol burn, mellowed some by the sweetness. Body is on the light side, and doesn't seem to stand up to the barrel. A bit thin and seemingly undercarbed. Overall worth a try, but know that it's a bit boozy and thin. Not sure i'd pick it up in the future.

16 oz wax-dipped bottle poured into a Hinterland tulip.
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A - While wax-dipping a bottle can certainly increase it's attraction, it can also hinder the beer. Case in point; this wax is so brittle it chips and breaks, nearly falling into the beer. My recommendation? Use a knife (carefully!) to cut around the base of the cap, then pry off. Once safely aside, the beer pours a gorgeous deep mahogany color which, despite it's dark nature is clear. A short-lived tan head caps the pour and dots the tulip in specks of lace.

S - Bourbon is immediately apparent through this beer but by no means is it boozy, in fact, Bourbon Barrel Doppelbock uses it's time in the barrels to juxtapose the malt's interaction. Rich caramel and Munich sweetness dwell in the background of this smooth lager but become more open as it warms, blending wonderfully with the charred oak and alcohol warmth.

T - Lost in translation, the rich maltiness of the aroma thins out considerably in flavor, imparting it's nuances but not the full breadth of their capabilities. Amber-like toasted malts trickle in some breadiness while light caramel and Munich sweetness barely come through. Wood paneling is a bit more reminiscent of an old basement rather than typical barrel aging, though this seems to have spend much less time in barrels judging by it's respectably light traces of the spirit.

M - Hinterland's Doppelbock does a fantastic job of minimally aging the base beer for an outcome that's not a pure booze-bomb rife with alcohol heat. But what's not so fantastic is the thin feel of the base doppelbock which would normally be a rich, malty, and sweet German lager. Hinterland get's it right with the crispness and cleanliness of lagering though, and that's quite admirable. I just wish the beer had a fuller body.

O - There's a fine line to walk when one barrel ages beer. To be too thin? Or to sway into utter booziness... It becomes hard to please everyone, but Hinterland does a great job at walking that line down the center, letting their doppelbock breathe and open with an aromatic spirit nose but the base beer just seems rather...flat, regardless of barrel aging. A doppelbock is a rich, hearty style; "liquid bread" to the monks, and while this beer is very nice, it doesn't quite reach that status. Look for this version to be much more drinkable and less filling, a terrific fall treat!